You're All Kinds of Wonderful

August 21, 2017
Tillman’s latest celebration of children’s unique qualities and talents pictures kids in various pursuits, joined by animals that often take part in the fun. Bells are the key motif, represented both in the author’s sunny mixed-media collages and in her equally upbeat verse: “And so, when we’re born, we’re supplied at the start/ with our own bells and whistles to set us apart.” Tillman (You and Me and the Wishing Tree) emphasizes the importance of perseverance in discovering and honing one’s skills. “It takes some practice to make those bells ring,” she writes as a redheaded boy blasts away on a tuba, joined by a singing crow and flute-playing panda. She provides an ethnically diverse cast of children, and includes a young swimmer with a developmental disability, sitting astride a seal and draped in medals. Visual humor provides a welcome balance to the earnest verse: a child and a piglet swoop toward each other on trapezes—pigs can fly!—and a purple hippo sports oversize eyeglasses in a scene that highlights academic achievement. Ages 4–8. Agent: Cathy Hemming, Cathy D. Hemming Literary.

September 1, 2017

PreS-;K-A picture book celebrating the uniqueness of each child. Rhyming sentences share encouraging words, asking young readers to embrace their differences and to see them as strengths. "There's lots of advice on the library shelf, like, /'You're an original, just be yourself.'/Really, that isn't so easy to do!/You have to learn what it means to be you." Digitally created artwork features a cast of mostly white children, on spreads that feature full-page images on one side, and white space with simple text on the other, allowing the softly hued illustrations-embellished with chalk, watercolor, and pencil textures-to speak on their own. The young children on each page are accompanied by a different type of animal, ranging from pigs to monkeys, seals, and panda bears. The cover photo, repeated in the book, features a pig-tailed exuberant preschooler with Down syndrome sitting on a seal with multiple medals around her neck. "Sooner or later, if you keep trying, /you'll try on something that's so satisfying/your heart will start whistling/ and POW! BADA BING!" The book ends on a sweet note, with the author reminding young readers to "keep putting one foot in front of the other and/there is no telling the bells you'll uncover./And can you guess what they add up to?/The amazing astonishing story of you." This slight, saccharine text is paired with equally sweet illustrations encouraging children to be themselves, whatever that might be. VERDICT Useful for larger picture book collections looking to beef up holdings on individuality.-Lisa Kropp, Lindenhurst Memorial Library, NY

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